Mouvement Initiative Et Liberté
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The Initiative and Liberty Movement (, MIL) is a French
Gaullist Gaullism ( ) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withdrew French forces from t ...
political
association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...
.


History

First called GIL (Initiative and Liberty Groups), it was established in March 1981 and became the Initiative and Liberty Movement on November 17, 1981. It was chaired by Jacques Rougeot, who was close to the
Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic ( ; RPR ) was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaul ...
(RPR) and president of the National Inter-University Union (UNI). General
Alain de Boissieu Alain de Boissieu Déan de Luigné (; 5 July 1915 – 5 April 2006) was a French general who served in the Free French Forces during World War II, later becoming Army chief of staff (1971–1975). He was the son-in-law of General Charles de Gau ...
,
Pierre Messmer Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (; 20 March 191629 August 2007) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Minister of Armies under Charles de Gaulle from 1960 to 1969 – the longest serving since Étienne François, duc de Choiseul under ...
and
Jacques Foccart Jacques Foccart (31 August 1913 – 19 March 1997) was a French businessman and politician, best known as a chief adviser to French presidents on African affairs. He also co-founded in 1959 with Charles Pasqua the Gaullist Service d'Action Civiq ...
also participated in its establishment. The MIL was born before the victory of the left in 1981. It tried "to prevent that, after having seized political power, the socialist-communists definitely put their hands on and minds on the structures of France", according to its terms. As Pierre Debizet said on TF1 on July 25, 1985, the MIL does not consider itself officially as a "resurgence" of the ''
Service d'Action Civique The SAC (; or ''Civic Action Service''), officially created in January 1960, was a Gaullist militia founded by Jacques Foccart, Charles de Gaulle's chief adviser for African matters, and , a former Resistant and official director of the group. ...
'' (SAC). From 1986 on, its new cause was to liberate France from the "socialist stagnation". Pierre Debizet compared, in 1985, socialism to
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
. However, the MIL struggled to take off, though it had several thousand members, including
Alain Peyrefitte Alain Peyrefitte (; 26 August 1925 – 27 November 1999) was a French scholar and politician. He was a confidant of Charles de Gaulle and had a long career in public service, serving as a diplomat in Germany and Poland. Peyrefitte is remembered ...
and the former Chief of Staff of the Army, General Jean Delaunay. Yet one thing was certain: despite low name recognition, everybody on the right knew the MIL. About the ideas of MIL in the 1980s, the historian François Audigier said: "The MIL is a kind of ideological laboratory, which crossed the diverse influences of the liberal right, a reactionary Catholicism and a rigid
Gaullism Gaullism ( ) is a Politics of France, French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of France, President of the Fifth French Republic. ...
. It used an
anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, is a political position that seeks to restrict immigration. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory in ...
,
pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...
, defense of
private schools A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their financial endowme ...
and the rejection of left-wing values, a package that had nothing to envy to the National Front's program".''Histoire du S.A.C. La part d'ombre du gaullisme'', éd. Stock, 2003, p. 488


Today

The MIL, now chaired by Christian Labrousse, who claims to be on the "civic right" a Gaullist and a patriot. Its emblem is the
Cross of Lorraine The Cross of Lorraine (), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldry, heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are "graded" with ...
. This movement is associated to the
Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...
(UMP). It is part of the UMP's right-wing and is a "Gaullist loyalist" organization as opposed to neo-Gaullism, which integrates
neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...
and moderate centre-right ideas. The MIL is a "movement of thought" out of defending the common civic values (primacy of individual freedom, responsibility, duty and cohesion of society). Gaullism is for the MIL an inspiration. He considers that
communitarianism Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relation ...
,
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...
and
Islamism Islamism is a range of religious and political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is superior to communism ...
threaten the national identity of France, and that resistance is a civic duty.
Pierre Clostermann Pierre-Henri Clostermann (28 February 1921 – 22 March 2006) was a World War II French ace fighter pilot. During the conflict he has been claimed to have achieved 33 air-to-air combat victories, earning the accolade "France's First Figh ...
, a Companion of the Liberation;
Jacques Foccart Jacques Foccart (31 August 1913 – 19 March 1997) was a French businessman and politician, best known as a chief adviser to French presidents on African affairs. He also co-founded in 1959 with Charles Pasqua the Gaullist Service d'Action Civiq ...
, former head of
Free France Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...
network and former General Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic between 1959 and 1974;
Michel Habib-Deloncle Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...
, former minister of General de Gaulle;
Pierre Messmer Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (; 20 March 191629 August 2007) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Minister of Armies under Charles de Gaulle from 1960 to 1969 – the longest serving since Étienne François, duc de Choiseul under ...
, a Companion of the Liberation and former
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
and
Maurice Schumann Maurice Schumann (; 10 April 1911 – 9 February 1998) was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the Second World War who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (France), Minister of Foreign Affairs under Georges Pompidou from 22 J ...
, a former minister and a Companion of the Liberation, now dead, were members of its honorary committee. Are also members of the honorary committee of the MIL *
Jacques Boyon Jacques Boyon (30 September 1934 – 15 January 2019) was a French politician who served as Deputy of the National Assembly for Ain from 1978 to 1981, 1986 to 1988, and 1988 to 1997. He was also mayor of Pont-d'Ain, president of the General Coun ...
, Chairman of the Board of Directors of IRIS *
Bernard Debré Bernard Debré (30 September 194413 September 2020) was a French Urology, urologist at Hôpital Cochin and a member (Deputy (France), deputy) of the National Assembly of France. He was one of the representatives of the city of Paris, and was ...
, UMP deputy * Xavier Deniau, former minister *
Robert Galley Robert Galley (11 January 1921 – 8 June 2012) was a French politician and member of the Free French Forces during World War II, for which he received the Ordre de la Libération. Galley was born in Paris on January 11, 1921. He was the son o ...
, Companion of the Liberation *
Philippe de Gaulle Philippe Henri Xavier Antoine de Gaulle (28 December 1921 – 13 March 2024) was a French admiral and Senate (France), senator.''The New York Times''"Philippe de Gaulle, Admiral and Son of Charles de Gaulle, Dies at 102" 14 March 2024. Retrieve ...
, son of General de Gaulle * Jacques Godfrain, former member UMP *
Yves Guéna Yves Guéna (; 6 July 1922 – 3 March 2016) was a French politician. In 1940, he joined the Free French Forces in the United Kingdom. He received several decorations for his courage. Political life First elected under the banner of the lef ...
, honorary president of the New Century Club, * Hugues Martin, former UMP deputy (replaced
Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the c ...
in Parliament) * Robert Pandraud, former RPR-UMP member *
Charles Pasqua Charles Victor Pasqua (18 April 192729 June 2015) was a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's ''cohabitation'' government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government ...
, UMP senator *
Armel Pécheul ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of RISC instruction set architectures (ISAs) for computer processors. Arm Holdings develops the ISAs and licen ...
, close to the
Movement for France The Movement for France (, MPF; ) was a Conservatism, conservative Soft Euroscepticism, Eurosceptic List of political parties in France, French political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked Regions of France, regional stronghold in ...
* Eric Raoult, UMP deputy *
Jean Tiberi Jean Tiberi (; 30 January 1935 – 27 May 2025) was a French politician who served as mayor of Paris from 1995 to 2001.
, UMP deputy In the
1995 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 23 April, with a second round on 7 May. Background The Socialist incumbent president François Mitterrand, who had been in office since 1981, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had termi ...
it supported
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...
to "escape from socialism" and repeated its support for Chirac in the 2002 election ("Chirac, the true Gaullist") and it supported
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...
in the 2007 election. It opposed the
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an Ratification, unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for ...
in 2005.


References

{{reflist


External links


Official website of the MIL
Gaullist parties Conservatism in France Political organizations based in France Political party factions in France Factions and associate parties of the Union for a Popular Movement Anti-communist parties